The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma/Birds/Order Passeres/Family Paridæ/Genus Ægithaliscus
Genus ÆGITHALISCUS Cabanis, 1850.
The genus Ægithaliscus contains a group of very small Titmouses with tails longer in proportion and more graduated than in Parus. There is no crest but the feathers of the crown are very long and full. There is no ventral band.
Key to Species.
| A. Chin white, throat black | Æ. concinnus, p. 93. |
| B. Chin and upper throat black in a <-shape | Æ. bonvaloti, p. 96. |
| C. Chin and throat broadly black | Æ. leucogenys, p. 97. |
| D. Chin and throat all white | Æ. niveigularis, p. 98. |
| E. Chin and throat with silver-white centre and rufescent sides | Æ. ioschistos, p. 99. |
Ægithaliscus concinnus Gould, 1855.
Our little Indian Tits hitherto known as erythrocephalus are only a geographical race of the Chinese concinnus, moreover the name itself cannot be used for this Tit as it is invalidated by Linné's Parus erythrocephalus, x. ed. p. 191 (1758), and I have therefore had to give it a new subspecific name.
Key to Subspecies.
| A. Broad supercilium white | Æ. c. iredalei, p. 93. |
| B. Supercilium mixed black and white | Æ. c. manipurensis, p. 94. |
| C. Supercilium all black | |
| a. Crown ochre: pectoral band dark and well developed | Æ. c. talifuensis, p. 95. |
| b. Crown brownish buff; pectoral band paler | Æ. c. pulchellus, p. 95. |
(77) Ægithaliscus concinnus iredalei.
The Red-Headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus concinnus iredalei Stuart Baker, Bull. B. O. C, xli, p. 2 (1920) (Simla).
- Ægithaliscus erythrocephalus. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 50.
Vernacular names. Pyiong-Samyi (Lepcha).
Description. Forehead, crown and nape chestnut; a broad eyebrow from the eye to the nape white; lores, round the eye, ear-coverts, a band under the eyebrow and a large round patch on the throat black; chin and a moustachial streak white; remainder of the lower phtmage ferruginous, with a paler band across the breast next to the black of the throat; upper plumage and wing-coverts bluish grey; primary wing-coverts and winglet dark brown; quills brown, narrowly edged with bluish grey; tail dark brown suffused with bluish grey, the outer web of the outermost feather white, the inner tipped with white; the next two feathers tipped with white.
Colours of soft parts. Bill black; gape fleshy; iris pale yellow or creamy yellow; legs buffy yellow; claws livid (Scully).
Measurements. Length about 110 mm.; wing about 48 to 52 mm.; tarsus about 13 mm.; culmen 6 mm.
Distribution. Himalayas from Chitral to the Mishmi Hills over 5,000 feet, aud in the Miri Hills, according to Stevens, over 4,000 feet.
Nidification. The breeding season of this little Tit commences about the middle of March and continues throughout April and May. The nest is a lovely little ball of moss, mixed with cobwebs, lichen and seed-down and is thickly lined with soft feathers or with feathers and seed-down mixed. About Simla it is often placed at the end of a branch of a deodar, at other times in small oaks and even in bushes and tangles of creeper. The eggs are a very pale pink with a ring of faint red freckles round the larger end, but they vary from almost pure unmarked white to a pink with a dense dark ring of reddish brown. 100 eggs average 13·88 × 10·57 mm. The clutch is from three to eight eggs. They breed at heights from 6,000 to 10,000 feet or more.
Habits. The Red-headed Tit associates in small flocks, probably merely family parties, frequenting both lofty trees and low bushes and shrubs when hunting for food, which consists almost entirely of insects. It is said, however, to also eat certain fruit and nuts. It is as restless and energetic as the rest of the family, and keeps up a constant rather shrill "tweet" as it flits or scrambles from one branch to another.
It appears to be a resident wherever found, moving up and down very little with the change of seasons.
(78) Ægithaliscus concinnus manipurensis.
Hume's Red-headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus manipurensis Hume, S. F., xi, p. 254 (1888) (Manipur); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 51.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Differs from iredalei in having the eyebrow white and black, instead of pure white; the pale pectoral baud next the black throat very white and distinct and the lower plumage chestnut, the portion next the pectoral band being brighter than elsewhere.
Colours of soft parts. Male.—Legs and feet warm reddish mahogany brown; claws darker; bill black; irides bright yellowish white.
Female.—Legs and feet very pale orange-brown; bill black; irides creamy white.
Measurements as in iredalei, perhaps averaging a trifle smaller; several birds have the wing under 48 mm.
Distribution. Hill ranges South of the Brahmaputra, Manipur, Looshai and the extreme northern ranges of the Chin Hills.
Nidification. Its eggs have been taken by myself in Shillong, and by Messrs. Hopwood, Mackenzie and others in the northern Chin Hills, and many by Col. Tytler in the Naga Hills where it is quite common.
Mr. Mackenzie describes the nest as like a small and beautiful specimen of the Long-tailed Tit's and remarks on its predilection for brilliant feathers for use as a lining. The eggs are like those of the Common Red-headed Tit and are nearly always three only in number. They measure about 13·0 × 10·3 mm.
The breeding season seems to be May.
Habits. Similar to those of others of the genus. In the Khasia Hills and Cachar it is found as low as 5,000 feet, but over most of its range it keeps above 6,000 feet and ascends at least as high as 9,000 feet.
(79) Ægithaliscus concinnus pulchellus.
The Shan Red-headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus pulchellus Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xi, p. 2 (1900) (Nanoi, S. Shan States).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Can be separated at once from Hume's Red-headed Tit by the wholly black supercilium, whilst from the next bird it can be differentiated by the colour of the crown, which is brownish buff rather than ochre.
Colours of soft parts and measurements as in manipurensis.
Distribution. Southern Shan States, Karenni. The limits of the range of this subspecies are not yet known.
Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded. Wardlaw Ramsay got it in Karenni at 3,000 feet.
(80) Ægithaliscus concinnus talifuensis.[1]
Rippon's Red-headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus talifuensis Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xiv, p. 18 (1903) (Gvi-dzin, N. Shan States).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Similar to Hume's Red-headed Tit but has the crown ochraceous rather than chestnut; the supercilium is black, the plumage below is whiter, and the pectoral band darker, though not so dark as in the Shan bird.
The race is nearest to true Æ. c. concinnus of China but is distinguished from that bird by the more chestnut flanks and sides.
Colour of soft parts as in iredalei.
Measurements. A rather bigger bird than the Common Red-headed Tit. Total length about 115 mm.; wing 53 mm.; tail 53 mm.; tarsus about 14 mm.
Distribution. Mt. Talifu, W. Yunnan, S.W. China and N. Shan States as far west as the Irrawaddy.
Nidification. Harington, who took this Tit's nest in the Shan States, describes it as like that of the Long-tailed Tit—a ball of moss lined with feathers and with an inner lining of seed-down, placed in a raspberry bush within two feet of the ground. The full clutch of eggs seems to be three only and they measure about 13·5 × 10·9 mm.
Harington took the above nest in the end of April but Mr. F. Grant found it breeding in March and early April.
Habits. This Tit seems to be obtained principally between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. Little has been so far recorded of its habits, which doubtless do not differ from those of others of the genus.
Ægithaliscus bonvaloti.
Key to Subspecies.
| A. Below white with ferruginous pectoral band. Wing 56–61 mm. | Æ. b. bonvaloti, p. 96. |
| B. Below rufescent with brownish band. Wing 50–55 mm. | Æ. b. sharpei, p. 97. |
(81) Ægithaliscus bonvaloti bonvaloti.
The Chinese Black-headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus bonvaloti Oustalet, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool., (7) Vol. 12, p. 286 (1891) (Ta-tsien-lu).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Head black, a coronal streak white on the fore-head and becoming chestnut-buff posteriorly; upper back dull chestnut, fading into dull olive on back and rump; feathers of the latter tipped with dull chestnut; chin and upper throat black, somewhat mottled in the centre with white edges to the feathers; below white; a broken pectoral band, flanks, vent and under tail-coverts sandy chestnut; tail blackish brown, the outermost three pairs of rectrices with terminal broad streaks of white; wings brown, quills pale-edged and coverts tipped with olive.
Colours of soft parts. Not recorded.
Measurements. Total length about 110 mm.; wing 56 to 61 mm.; tail 51 to 60 mm.
Distribution. Western China, Yunnan and N.E. Shan States. There are several specimens from the last place in the British Museum Collection.
Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded.
(82) Ægithaliscus bonvaloti sharpei.
The Mt. Victoria Black-headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus sharpei Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xiv, p. 84 (1904) (Mt. Victoria, Chin Hills).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Similar to the preceding bird, but is vA-holly rufes- cent on breast and belly. The pectoral band is brownish and the black on chin and on the throat is V-shaped.
Measurements. Wing 50 to 55 mm.; tail 48 to 51 mm.; "culmen 0·3", tarsus 0·65" " (Sharpe).
Distribution. Higher mountains of the Chin Hills.
Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded beyond the fact that it is found iu forests on the mountains of the Mt. Victoria chain at 5,000 feet and upwards.
(82) Ægithaliscus leucogenys.
The White-cheeked Tit.
- Orites leucogenys Moore, P. Z. S., xxii, p. 139 (1855) (Afghanistan).
- Ægithaliscus leucogenys. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 51.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Forehead, crown and nape pale reddish brown; lores, a very broad band through the eye to the nape, chin and throat black; cheeks and ear-coverts white; upper plumage, a band over the ear-coverts, wing-coverts and the edges of the wing-feathers olive-grey; wiuglet and primary-coverts dark brown; tail brown, the outermost feather with the outer web white and the inner tipped with white, the next feather obliquely, and the one next to this again very narrowly tipped with white; lower plumage reddish fawn, the portion immediately next the black throat deep rusty red.
Colours of soft parts. Bill black; iris pale creamy or white; feet pale orange, claws dusky or brown (Scully).
Measurements. Total length about 130 mm.; tail about 55 mm.; wing about 55 mm.; tarsus about 17 mm.; culmen about 8 mm.
The young have the black chin and throat of the adult faintly indicated only and the colours duller.
Distribution. Garhwal, Simla Hills, into Kashmir and thence into Afghanistan.
Nidification. Whitehead (Ibis, Jan. 1909) describes the nesting of this species in the Kurram Valley, where it breeds freely in the ilex scrub between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. The nest is like that of the British Long-tailed Tit but smaller and less neat. It is made of moss and cobwebs externally, then a little green grass and finally a thick lining of feathers. The eggs seem to number from five to eight and to be very like those of the Red-headed Tit and measure 14·7 × 9·5 mm.
They breed from the end of March to early May.
Habits. In summer the White-cheeked Tit is found between 5,000 or 6,000 and 12,000 feet, but in winter descends much lower and down to some 2,000 feet. Whitehead obtained a specimen, presumably after it had bred, at Safed Koh at 1,800 feet on the 20th July.
It goes about in parties of eight or nine in scrub-jungle, continually uttering its call-note, which Whitehead syllabifies as "prit-t-t." It is sometimes found in company with Grey Tits.
(84) Ægithaliscus niveogularis.
The White-throated Tit.
- Orites niveogularis Moore, P. Z. S., xxii, p. 140 (1855) (North India).
- Ægithaliscus niveogularis. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 52.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Forehead and front of crown, cheeks, chin, throat and sides of neck white; lores and a very broad eye-band black; the two bands partially blending on the nape; ear-coverts hairbrown slightly streaked with whitish; hind crown and nape buffy brown; upper plumage, wing-coverts and edges of the wingfeathers ashy grey, all but the latter tinged with isabelline; tail brown, the outermost feather with the outer web white, the next two wiiite along the shaft and at the tip; lower plumage pinkish buff, divided from the white of the throat by a broad brown band.
Colours of soft parts. Bill dark slaty; legs reddish; irides pale yellowish.
Measurements. Total length about 110 mm.; wing about 64 mm.; tail about 56 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 8 mm.
Distribution/ From Garhwal and Simla to Gilgit, Chitral and Baluchistan, between 6,000 and 14,000 feet.
Nidification. The eggs of this bird were first taken by Whymper in June 1905 at Dumdar, Garhwal and more recently other nests by Messrs. B. B. Osmaston and P. Dodsworth. The nests are described as being like that of the Red-headed Tit but larger and densely lined with feathers. That first found by Whymper was placed iu the fork of a willow about 6 feet from the ground and others as much as 30 feet from it, whilst Osmaston's was in the fork of a cherry-tree, both nest and tree being covered with lichen. The eggs appear to be four in number and are like those of the Red-headed Tit's but more spotted and less zoned with the markings.
They breed from May to June at elevations of 11,000 feet upwards.
Eggs sent me by Dodsworth from above Simla measure about 14·0 × 10·5 mm. These were taken from nests in small oaks.
Habits. Osmaston found this bird connnon in the Tons Valley, and Whymper equally so in Grarhwal at elevations of some 11,000 or 12,000 feet. It seems to haunt both thick and sparse forest equally, and to go about in little parties like the rest of its tribe.
Whitehead likens its note to the "Wi" of the Goldfinch.
(85) Ægithaliscus ioschistos.
The Rufous-fronted Tit.
- Parus ioschistos Hodgs., J. A. S. B., xiii, p. 943 (1844) (Nepal).
- Ægithaliscus ioschistos. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 52.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Forehead, a broad band on the middle of the head, the sides of the neck and a broad collar on the upper back fawn-colour; lores, under the eye, and a broad band on the side of the crown extending to the upper hack and there blending with the band on the other side, black; ear-coverts blackish in front, rufous behind; upper plumage, wing-coverts and the edges to the wings and tail ashy olive; primary-coverts and winglet dark brown; tail brown, the outer web of the outermost feather white, the next two with some white at the tip; chin and throat silvery white, with the black bases of the feathers showing through: the chin and a stripe under the cheek blacker than the other parts; cheeks and entire lower plumage dark ferruginous.
Colours of soft parts. Bill black; legs yellow-brown; iris brown (Jerdon); iris yellow (Blanford).
Measurements. Length about 100 mm.; tail about 55 mm.; wing about 60 mm.; culmen about 7 mm.; tarsus about 17 mm.
Distribution. Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.
Nidification and Habits. Very little on record. Blanford found it in Sikidm at 9,000 feet and upwards, and believed that it kept only to the pine-forests.
- ↑ This form is very doubtfully distinct from Ægithaliscus concinnus concinnus, from China and Yunnan.